


Light 'Em Up

by sunkelles



Series: Femslash February 2017 [7]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Role reversal, F/F, Femslash February, Flash! Iris, Identity Issues, Iris West is The Flash, Iris centric, minor barrisco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-22 00:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9574301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: In another world, Iris West is the Flash. In this world, she’s dating Linda Park. This world has an Earth 2, and that Earth 2 has a Doctor Light. This complicates things.





	

**Author's Note:**

> title from the fall out boy song of the same name because i'm original

Iris is really glad that she isn’t blind permanently. At least, that’s what Caitlin told her. She said that she would recover quickly, with her speedster healing. She just wishes that it hadn’t happened at all, but then again, she can’t foresee a situation where she wouldn’t have tried to talk to Light, to try to talk her out of that robbery. She can’t imagine a universe where she wouldn’t try to reason with her.  
  
At least, not in any universe where Light still looks like Linda Park.

 

“Flash,” Wells’s angry voice says, “what happened? You’re the fastest person alive. How did Light catch you off guard?” Iris thinks of the moment of panic she experienced when Doctor Light lifted her mask and she saw her girlfriend’s face.

“I got distracted,” Iris says, “she looks like my girlfriend.”

“Wait,” Barry says, “she looks like Linda?”

“Barr, how many girlfriends do I have?” Iris asks, trying not to come across as an asshole. She’s pretty sure she sounds like an asshole.

“Well you have lots of friends who are girls,” Cisco says, taking up his boyfriend’s torch, “and some people call those friends girlfriends.”

“Not _gay_ girls,” Iris says. She personally gets mad when straight girls call their other straight friends “girlfriends”. It just makes life confusing.

“Touche,” says Cisco, bisexual disaster. The only people in this room who aren’t bisexual disasters are Wells and Caitlin, who are likely both disasters, just disasters of the heterosexual variety.

“Guys, this is serious,” Barry says, “what if Light comes to kill Linda.”

“I did let Light know she had a doppelganger,” Iris says. She can’t see anything, but she assumes the boys look concerned. She bumps into someone’s chest, probably Cisco’s, and then she pushes off of him and runs into a door frame. She feels someone grab her by the shoulders.

“Need some help?” Caitlin asks.

“Thanks,” Iris says, laughing awkwardly, “can you drive me to work?”

“Of course,” Caitlin promises her.  So Caitlin leads her out to her car, drives them over, and helps lead her into the building. The thing about blackness is that it’s all consuming, and scary. And hard to find her way around in. She really appreciates that Caitlin promises to lead her straight to her desk.

“Caitlin? Iris?” Linda asks, sounding very confused. Iris clutches the desk, trying to get her bearings in the room.

“Can you see Iris?” Linda asks skeptically.

“I got my pupils dilated,” Iris says, “can’t see a thing.” She says it in the _it’s Flash stuff I’ll tell you about later_ tone she knows Linda has come to know well.

“Iris, what’s going on?”

“I’ll let you two work this out,” Caitlin says. She lets go of Iris, and Iris hears her footsteps as she leaves. Iris can’t see her, but Linda puts a hand on her arm.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” She sounds concerned now. Iris must look as worried as she feels.

“Linds, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s _important._ ”

“Then please tell me.”

“It’s like _superspeed_ important.”

“Oh.” They both know that any mention of superspeed means Flash things which means they need to get _far_ away from the office to discuss them. Linda puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, let’s go-” Iris hears the doors burst open.

“What the hell?” Linda asks. Iris hears things flying around, and people running in fear. Doctor Light has come for Linda. Doctor Light has come for Linda, and Iris _can’t see_. She still pushes Linda protectively behind her though.

“What do you want from me?” Linda asks.

 A voice that sounds just like hers, but hollower says, “Your life.” Oh god, Iris thinks, this is not good.

“I’ve never killed anyone, but it’s not murder if it’s your double, right?” Not-Linda laughs awkwardly as she delivers that one-liner. It reminds her of the time when she and Linda took that stupid Buzzfeed quiz on a slow day at work and Linda had said she would definitely fuck her clone because it’s not incest if it’s your clone, right? That was when she learned Linda was pan and that she actually had a chance with her. She really doesn’t like seeing similarities between the two.

“Why are you doing this?” Linda asks. She’s never sounded quite so small. Iris doesn’t like hearing Linda sound small.

“It’s the only way that I can stay alive, to become you.”

“We can help you,” Iris says, “you just have to give us a chance.” She wants to help this girl who’s so much like Linda but not.

 Doctor Light laughs. “This world can’t have two Linda Parks, and I know which one you’d choose.”  Iris can see the beginnings of vision coming back to her, just a blurry circle of light. She assumes that it’s coming from Doctor Light’s hand. And she assumes that it’s pointed at Linda.

 Then she hears a commotion, and Doctor Light shoots a pillar of light from her hand. Screw secret identities. They aren’t worth a damn thing if Linda is dead. She scoops her girlfriend into her arms at her top speed, lightning crackling behind her. Then she hears a body fall to the floor.

It must have been Larkin,  it must have- Doctor Light must have _killed_ him. Linda grips her shoulder tightly.

“Iris he’s- Larkin- he”

“He’s dead,” Iris says, her own voice sounding hollow now.

“Oh god,” Light says, “this wasn’t supposed to happen. I- I didn’t mean to _kill_ him.” Light sounds fragile. She sounds so much like Linda when she’s scarred, and god, Iris wants to help her. Even though it doesn’t make sense. Even though Light probably doesn’t want her help.

“We can still fix this,” Iris says.

“No, _Flash_ , we can’t.” Then Light’s gauntlets light up, brighter, and Iris knows exactly what’s happening. She’s still clutching Linda, and she doesn’t think that she could stop her.

“Close your eyes,” she tells Linda, and she seals her eyes shut. Then she’s blown to the floor by Light’s blast. A moment later, she feels Linda shaking her.

“Iris, babe, what was that? Was that- was that me?” Linda looks fuzzy, but Iris can see her. It doesn’t make her feel much better now that she’s let someone die.

“Yeah, Linds,” Iris says, pushing herself to a sitting position beside Linda, “that was your double.” Linda laughs awkwardly.

“That was what you wanted to talk about?”

“Yeah,” Iris says softly, “her name’s Doctor Light. She’s one of those doubles from Earth 2.”

“Did she blind you?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“How did she manage to do that? Iris, you’re faster than anyone on earth.”

“She caught me off guard.”

“Because she was me?”

“Yeah.” Linda doesn’t respond for a second, but she pushes herself to her feet. Then she holds out her hands to help Iris up. Iris pulls herself up, and then lets go of her hands. Linda crosses her arms protectively over her chest.

“So she blinded you, she killed Larkin, and she tried to kill me. What hasn’t she done?” LInda sounds absolutely traumatized.

“She didn’t kill you,” Iris says. Linda laughs bitterly.

“Lot of good that did, Larkin’s still dead.” Iris doesn’t contradict her, but she really can’t. Larkin _is_ still dead. Linda’s face is still a white blur framed by a black blur, but Iris can bet she’s nervously biting her lip. Based on the quality of her voice, Iris thinks she might be crying too.

“Am I gonna end up like that? Am I gonna- am I gonna do shit like that?”

“Linds,” Iris says, “you’re not going to be like that.”

“How do you _know_ that?” Linda asks. She sounds fragile. She just wants Iris to tell her that she’s different than her double, and Iris has a multitude of ways.

“You, Linda Park, are the bravest, caringest person I know.”

“Caringest isn’t a word, babe.” Linda’s voice sounds teasing, even a little happy. Iris managed to cheer her up, even if it’s only a little.

Then, the police sirens start. Everything is still fuzzy, but it looks like something. She can see stuff. Specifically, she can see red and blue flashing lights. Then, she hears a door open, and sees a human shaped blur with a blonde blur on top. As soon as the woman speaks, Iris realizes that it’s Detective Spivot. Her vision improves a little as she talks, and by the time her dad comes through the door, he’s clear enough she knows that he’s her dad.

They go through the necessary motions of the case. Linda acts like the confused and crushed victim, and Iris feels awful because she can’t tell how much is an act. Then, Detective Spivot escorts her home.

 

“I can’t believe I let this happen,” Iris says.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Barry says, “you were blind, Iris.”

“I just, if I’d gotten Linda out sooner, if I hadn’t have let Light blind me in the first place-”

“She’s alright, Iris,” her dad says, putting his hand on her shoulder, “you can’t beat yourself up over it.” Iris nods. She doesn’t agree, but she isn’t going to keep arguing with them. Her father and her best friend are always going to have her back, no matter what. It can be a little annoying when they won’t let her feel guilty for a moment. Sometimes a girl just wants to wallow, you know?

Her dad holds out Light’s mask.

“You think this mask will help us catch her?” he asks. Barry takes the bag.

“Any evidence on this is just gonna match Linda. I’ll go talk to Cisco, see if we can think of anything.” Normally Iris would make a playful comment about it being an excuse to spend time with his boyfriend, but not today. Right now this feels too solemn, too large scale. She suspects that there will be much less witty banter tonight at the Ramon-Allen apartment.

Iris knows that she should run back to STAR labs. She knows that she needs to find out what’s going on, but all she wants to do is go talk to her girlfriend. She wants to make sure that she’s alright. She makes her decision, and runs over to Linda’s instead.

 She stands on Linda's front porch, and rings the bell. It takes Linda longer than it normally does to answer. 

“Iris,” LInda says. Iris can’t really tell what emotions are in her voice. It’s a little disconcerting.

“Linds,” Iris says. Linda opens the door up all the way, and Iris can see that Linda’s already in her pajamas.

“Oh god,” Iris says, “I didn’t think you’d be getting ready for bed. Do you want me to leave?”

“Oh god no,” Linda says, as if the very idea of her leaving is abhorrent. She opens the door up wide, and gestures for Iris to come in. Iris does, walking straight into the area where the kitchen meets the living room. There’s a two-thirds full bottle of vodka on the counter. Iris doesn’t want to think about how much of it Linda drank tonight, and how much she was planning on drinking. Iris sits down on the couch.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Linda asks lightly. It’s an ongoing joke with them. Linda got her a bottle of wine, back when they were first dating, before she knew the stuff didn’t affect Iris at all. Now she offers her alcohol at every opportunity, even though Iris doesn’t like the taste and she can’t get drunk.

“No,” Iris says, “I think I’m good.” Linda smiles a little, and pours herself a glass of white wine.  
  
Iris is a little worried about that mixing with the vodka she might or might not have drank earlier, but she tries not to let that get to her. Linda has a high alcohol tolerance for someone her size. She drinks for pleasure a lot, but pure vodka? That’s _I want to forget I’m alive_ sort of alcohol.

Linda’s a woman made of steel. She’s brave and she’s funny, and once she learned Iris was the Flash, she tried to help anyway that she could. She has always been strong and capable. Feeling small and powerless? That’s not something that she’s used to, especially not with Iris around.

She sets the glass down on the coffee table, and sits down beside Iris on the couch. Well, she doesn’t sit _beside_ her so much as nearly on top of her, but Iris definitely isn’t complaining. There’s nothing that she likes more than being close to Linda, especially when the other woman needs it. And Linda needs it right now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Iris asks. Linda holds out a finger, then she picks her wine glass up daintily with three fingers. She tips it up to her mouth, and she takes multiple gulps. Then she sets it back down on the table. 

“Now I’m ready to talk about it,” Linda says gravely. Iris tries not to laugh, but she doesn’t succeed. There’s just something about that that’s so Linda.

“I feel like everything changed today,” Iris says. Linda nods. Earlier today they were talking about not writing stories about domestic abusers, now their boss is dead and they’re worried for Linda’s life. Now there’s a woman wearing Linda’s face out there somewhere, a woman who killed a friend of theirs.

“Yeah,” Linda says, “]now I know I could have turned out really fucked up.”

“Linds, that wasn’t you.”

“But it _was_ me,” Linda says, “that woman, she had my face. She moved like me, she even _talked_ like me!” Iris doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t think that she can. All of those things, at least, are true.

“In some other world, I’m just a petty thief and a killer.”

“ _You_ would never do that,” Iris asserts. Just because someone who looks like Linda did those things doesn’t mean that _she_ would.  
  
“But I _did!”_ Linda says, looking desperate and guilty and afraid, “I did. That woman proves it. In another world, I become that.” Iris doesn’t know much about multiverse theory. She doesn’t know enough about whether or not alternate versions of people are really the “same” as their doubles, but she does know one thing. Her Linda would _never_ do something like that, so she doesn’t care about what the other one did.

“The only world that matters is ours,” Iris says. Linda looks down at her hands, down at her palms. Specifically, she looks at the place where Doctor Light’s beams came from.

“I don’t want to be that, Iris.” Iris pulls her chin up gently to face her. 

“You won’t, Linds, I promise.” Linda breaks the eye contact, and then breaks contact all together. She grabs her wine glass again, and gulps down the rest of it. Then, she lies her head on Iris’s shoulder.

“I’m holding you to that,” she says softly. She leans in closer, and cuddles up against her. Iris feels like she should settle in for the long haul.She might spend the night like this, and she doesn’t think that she would mind. It’s intimate and close and comforting, and it’s what Linda needs right now. That’s all that really matters.

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone expresses interest in this fic, i might write another chapter where linda pretends to be doctor light and iris worries and things Happen, but unless i get some interest that's not happening.


End file.
